


Getting Over It

by WyrdeKid



Category: Pocket Monsters: X & Y | Pokemon X & Y Versions
Genre: AU- Not so much bad ending or good ending as, F/F, M/M, Sadness, Serena/Shauna isn't super present, ending that is unfortunate for certain parties but allover preferable, everyone is sad, self hate
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-12
Updated: 2015-10-13
Packaged: 2018-04-26 02:00:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4985701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WyrdeKid/pseuds/WyrdeKid
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Geosenge was not the nexus of the apocalypse, thankfully, but someone's world did end. </p>
<p>Sycamore, Diantha, and Serena all try to make this better.</p>
<p>AU where the ultimate weapon was a heat explosion and Lysandre is now very badly burned.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I got this idea from talking with someone on FF.net who came up with it (they said I could post).

"Lysandre please! It's not a very big request!"

"You know that's not true Augustine! I'll see you this evening."

Sycamore groaned audibly and rubbed at the bridge of his nose. Holo caster arguments with Lysandre were not fun, made even worse by the knowledge that, though his partner's camera was disabled, his was not. This meant raising his voice at a vacantly smiling icon while knowing that every expression of frustration was being broadcasted clearly. It had been this way every lunch break for the past two weeks. He would rush a gallette, delivered by an intern, then call his husband. They would talk for a time, until Sycamore brought it up, Lysandre shot it down, and the fight would begin.

And all about a photo.

The first time, he had simply been complaining about some legal papers he had to go through before the lab would be approved for an extension. Sycamore had quipped simply that it would be nice if he had a photo of Lysandre on his desk. Currently he had his graduation photo displayed, him in cap and gown holding the diploma that now hung on his wall, his parents at his sides beaming with pride. It was a nice picture for sure, but it felt wrong to not have anything commemorating his relationship. As soon as he'd said it, Lysandre went quiet.

"I could look for one." A voice, faint and almost restrained, replied after a time. Sycamore drooped. Not a photo had been taken of his husband for quite a time. Then, inspiration hit.

"Why would you need to do that?" He had chuckled, only a little nervously. "I could just get a copy of our wedding photo printed up." It was perfect; graduation on his left, wedding on his right. Accomplishment and love.

"No!" This time the reply was strong. "Augustine you will do no such thing." The sudden commanding tone frightened Sycamore.

"And why not? It's a lovely photo, and that sweet memory will be a great help when things start to feel tedious." He tried to lighten the mood with an exaggerated dreamy tone.

It didn't work.

"Then let it exist as a memory." Lysandre spoke with finality. "Adieu Augustine."

"Adieu mon-" That was all he could say before the other side cut out and the hologram shut off.

Presently, someone had just arrived in the elevator.

"Professor Sycamore?" He straightened up after hearing the familiar voice.

"Serena!" He stood to greet her, trying, and failing, to look like nothing was wrong.

"How is your Pokedex doing? Still making memories?" She wasn't buying it.

"That's all going well, no worries." Then she stood still a moment, biting her lip.

"Are you feeling all right Professor?" Her arms were crossed behind her, eyes full of worry.

"Just fine." He smiled, but he still looked tired. "So, you and Shauna have been spending an awful lot of time together." He tried to change the subject with a little teasing.

Sycamore had always been a bit of a romantic, and seeing the two girls grow closer without seeming to realize was amusing.

"Don't change the subject!" She shot indignantly, unable to stop the blush on her cheeks. "Your assistants told me you and Mssr. Lysandre were having an argument." She spoke more gently, concerned and sympathetic.

"I should have the contractors put in thicker walls." He mumbled tiredly. Walking back to his desk, he motioned for her to follow and sit.

"Yes, Lysandre and I are working through a... disagreement."

"What sort?" She sat across from him, her face set in a frown. Talking about Lysandre still made her uncomfortable, almost guilty.

"Eh... you know how... secluded he's been, yes?" She nodded.

"Good, well, I asked him for something and he says no. It's really nothing you should concern yourself with." He was smiling again, and rising from where he'd just sat to escort Serena out.

"But Professor-" He shushed her.

"But nothing! Now, go make memories!" He gently yet firmly shoved her back into the elevator. Once it closed, he locked off his floor from being accessible.

Sighing, he walked back to his desk and started on paperwork for the renovations. It wasn't just Serena trying to help; Sina, Dexio, Diantha, any number of lab assistants, they all tried to help him. Every one of them got told everything was fine, but they well knew it wasn't. Sycamore was hurting, and it coudn't be helped. A few hours later, he clocked out on time instead of staying late, for the first time in weeks.

As he walked home to the apartment he and Lysandre had moved into after marrying, he fought on whether he should call his husband to tell him he'd be home early. His hand on the holocaster, he decided against it. He really wasn't in the mood to use the device, and what harm could a surprise do?

The route home was painful for him. There was the cafe where he and Lysandre would eat breakfast nearly every morning. When had they last been there? It had been months, with the last visit being none too pleasant. Then there was the boutique where Lysandre would always have to stop him from buying something ridiculous like bright yellow boots or a shirt dotted with Skiddoo. Neither of them had stepped foot in the place in about a year. The memories were putting his stomach in a knot, so he hailed a taxi. The price of remembering was much higher than cabfare.

"Mon amor?" He called out experimentally as he stepped into the apartment, slightly confused it wasn't dark as he'd grown accustomed to.

"You're home early?" Lysandre asked from the couch, more than a little surprised. He didn't get up to look at him.

"Not much I can do with all the construction, and besides," Sycamore placed down his work bag and walked around the couch to sit down next to his husband, "I wanted to be with you."

"Even after we fought?" Lysandre still hadn't looked at him, in fact, he now had his head in his hands, angled away.

"We have that fight every day." Sycamore had tried to be dismissal, but saying it out loud weighed on him and he couldn't hide it.

Mere inches from his husband, he felt like they were miles apart.

"Why won't you look at me Lys?" Sycamore asked softly, almost pleading. Lysandre tensed.

"What are you talking about?" He tried to be casual and brush it off.

"You didn't turn to say hello, you have your head in your hands right now." Sycamore's voice was rising, desperation becoming evident.

"I was caught off guard, you came home early." he defended.

"What does that mean?" He laughed, incredulous. "I didn't give you the chance to dim the lights? Good, I dislike when it's dark and I know you do too."

"Why do you play this game, Augustine?" Lysandre nearly shouted, his back to him. "And don't deny it, you know the game. The game where you pretend you don't know what's wrong! The game where you act like I'm not disgusting!" He rose from the couch, back still to him, head still in hands.

"You know why I dim the lights! Why we don't eat out!" Then he paused, continuing softly. "Why you can't have a picture of me on your desk." He tensed when Sycamore's hand was suddenly on his shoulder.

"Please don't pity me Augustine. Diantha, the little champion and her friends; it's fine from them, but not you too." His voice cracked, a tear ran down his cheek.

"I don't pity you Lysandre, I've never pitied you." Sycamore moved to hug him, but he flinched away.

"Don't force yourself."

"That's not fair!" Sycamore nearly shouted. "You can't just call my affection forced or pity!" He became pleading once more. "I love you Lysandre! You are my husband and I love you! You are hurting and I want to help! Let me help." They both stood, silence hanging on them.

"I will be in my study." Lysandre finally spoke, his voice a whisper. He walked away from Augustine and their argument and entered the small home office that served as his study. He didn't come out again for the rest of the evening, forcing Sycamore to eat, read, and go to sleep completely alone.

~

Sycamore was going over data results from the bloodwork of a Mega Charizard as compared to a regular one when the receptionist called his office.

"Professor, there is a man here to see you." He groaned internally. It must be the contractor here to tell him that another of a thousand things has gone wrong with the lab renovations.

"Thank you, I'll be right down." Stretching out the kinks in his back, he left his microscope and went down the elevator, sighing and rubbing his eyes. However, the man in the lobby was very much not the contractor.

"Lysandre?" He was in disbelief. His husband stood before him with a wrapped present and covered dish.

"I... wanted to surprise you." He lifted the present, which looked suspiciously like a picture frame. "And I figured, you always say you wish you had time to get real food during lunch, so I've prepared something." Then he held up the dish. His voice was small and hesitant, almost scared he had done something wrong. Sycamore smiled like he hadn't in months.

"Thank you." He whispered when he got closer to Lysandre, wrapping his arms gently around him. Sycamore looked up at his husband's beautiful face, no less perfect for the burns and scars that consumed his visage. "Would you stay?" Lysandre looked concerned.

"In your office, alone?" He stressed the last word, eyes darting around the room, conscious of how uncomfortable his presence made the other employees.

"Wherever you would like mon cher. You've been so brave." Arm looped around his waist, Sycamore, for the first time in far too long, walked with his beloved husband to his office.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now Diantha is here! And things get even more oppressively self hating!

Diantha hummed as she moved through Lumiose, on her way to visit her best friends Augustine and Lysandre. The former had called her saying that he would be taking the day off and that she should come over so the three of them could make a day of it. Of course she had been more than happy to comply, they were both so busy, so days like this were always a treasure. Also, though she hadn't said it, she'd been worried about Lysandre. Part of her was nearly convinced he hadn't left his and Augustine's apartment since their wedding.

~

That wedding, it had been such a lovely day, but she knew something about it that at times threatened to spoil the memory. The reception was outside, it had been sunny and cool, a small gathering of just Augustine's parents and the children that had stopped Lysandre from... that had helped during a dark time. She had been chatting with Augustine's mother when he himself came up to her and asked where Lysandre was. 

"I don't know, but here, I'll help you look. Excussez moi, Mdm. Sycamore." Diantha had excused herself to go searching. Eventually, she left the reception entirely and found him, he was sitting behind a garbage can and holding his face in his hands. She had to suppress a gasp.

"I'm hideous..." he had whispered to himself. He hadn't even noticed her. She couldn't help but think of how earlier he had told Augustine that their kiss had to be quick because his scars were hurting that day. Now, as he pressed his hands to his face, she knew it had been a lie.

"Lysandre...?" She moved towards him tentatively. He didn't look up.

"Diantha... what have I done?" His voice cracked. She sat down next to him.

"What do you mean?"

"Augustine, I... I've cursed him."

"Lysandre, I don't understand." She spoke gently.

"Would you want a husband with this face?" He roared at her, finally looking up. His voice was angry, but she could see his sadness.

"That doesn't matter." She tried to put her hand on his shoulder, but he pushed it away.

"He proposed out of pity, I know it. He... no one could volunteer to see me everyday unless they felt they had too. I've always been a monster, and now it shows." 

"Augustine would never do that! His love for you is genuine, anyone could see that." She tried to reason with him. "He's looking for you right now, I'm helping him."

"There was a time when he loved me, but I betrayed that love. He's too kind."

Diantha couldn't believe what she was hearing, she'd never imagined his problems ran this deep. There was a beat of silence between them.

"I lied. My scars don't hurt." he whispered hoarsely. "I just... I just couldn't make Augustine touch me any... I... I ran from the party after... after Serena and her friend Shauna.. they- they made a joke about our honeymoon. I just thought, 'How could I be so selfish? How could I make Augustine touch me or- or even just sleep next to me?' What a monster I am." He was crying now. Diantha was speechless, she knew he was wrong, but what could she say? Before she had to, a voice cut in.

"There you are dearest!" Sycamore's cheery voice shook them both, it clashed so with the mood that had been set. His smile dropped when he saw that Lysandre was upset.

"What's wrong?" He rushed over and dropped to his knees in front of his new husband. Reflexively, he raised a hand to caress Lysandre's face, but dropped it before actually touching him.

"Nothing." His reply was quiet, followed by him swiftly wiping away his tears.

"It's not nothing, you are upset." He decided to rest his hand lightly upon Lysandre's shoulder. "We just took vows to be open with each other, you can tell me anything." His smile was gentle.

"Let's just go back to the party." Lysandre stood up, Sycamore and Diantha rising with him.

~

And that had been that. None of them had ever spoken a word about it again, but she still thought about it often. She wondered if she should tell her friend what Lysandre had said, or if he already knew. Whatever the case, she was fast approaching their apartment.

The door opened after only one knock, Augustine greeting her with a huge grin and a warm embrace.

"Diantha! It's so wonderful to see you." He shook her a little in their hug.

"Augustine!" she pulled away, hands still on his shoulders. "It is a gift to see you, my friend. Especially without the labcoat for once." She shot him a wry smile and stepped inside.

"Now, where is Lysandre?"

"He is still getting dressed." Sycamore smiled, Diantha tried to tell herself it looked genuine.

"Oh how typical, always the beauty queen that one." She shook her head and sighed, feigning exhaustion with her friend. In truth, she hoped it was fashionable indecision that kept him.

"How lovely to see you too." Diantha spun on her heels when she heard the familiar deep voice.

"Lysandre!" She cheered, running over to hug him. Not even thinking, she cupped his face in her hands. "It has been so long my friend!" Almost immediately he grabbed her arms and lowered them.

"Yes, it really has." He took a step back, never meeting her eye. She bit her lip to hold back a frown; he was wearing a jacket she hadn't seen before, a long black one with a large collar flipped up, covering his face.

"Well then, my dear, since you are now ready, let's be on our way!" Augustine cut between them, looping his arm around his husband.

"Yes, let's." Diantha agreed happily, trying to convince herself she meant it.

This was not the first trip they'd taken of this nature. Oh no, before... well... before everything, they would always try and line up the free spaces in their busy schedules just to spend time with each other. In the beginning, it had been just Diantha and Augustine, but as soon as Lysandre entered the picture, they had both insisted he join. Things had been different then; Lysandre still loved to help people, Diantha was only big in local theatre, and Augustine was scrounging around for grants to fund his research. How times change.

After a quick stop for coffees and gallettes, made quick at Lysandre's insistence, Diantha and Augustine were excitedly zippng around the city. Every window had something interesting for sale, each Pokemon warranted a hello, they were in their social element. But not Lysandre.

Augustine was the first to notice. He had been so caught up in the excitement of actually being out and about with his husband that he almost forgot about the actual husband part. Diantha had just been showing him a red scarf when he turned to show Lysandre, who wasn't there. After a brief moment of panic and confusion, he spotted him lingering about 30 feet behind.

"What are you doing mon cher?" Sycamore asked after zipping straight after him.

"Just window shopping." He lied, and it was a bad lie.

"Lysandre, I know you would be much more interested in the store Diantha and I are looking at then a Pokemon accessory shop." Augustine put his hand on his hip and gestured to the window display of collars and small shirts.

"I was thinking of getting something for Pyroar." He defended, averting his eyes. Sycamore put his hand on Lysandre's shoulder.

"Don't lie mon cher, just come with me." To his relief, Lysandre let himself be led back, but would not relax. Sycamore could practically feel his muscles flexing from tension. Diantha ran up to meet them and threaded herself around Lysandre's other shoulder.

"Let's go inside and acc-ess-or-ize!" She spoke with a musical lilt expressing her excitement. Before a word of protest could slip between his lips, they had both rushed him in.

Inside was a kingdom of hats, jewelry, and everything in between. Diantha and Sycamore were the bandits. Lysandre stood off to the side, watching them try things on and laugh when it looked awful, steadily piling what did work. It was, however, beyond his luck that they would forget about him.

"How about this?" Sycamore placed a gaudy, tacky red hat on Lysandre's head and- oh dear it had Fletchinder feathers.

"How very handsome." Diantha teased. Lysandre batted it off his head like it was poisoned, only making the two laugh.

"That settles it, we are definitely buying this." Sycamore said while laughing and retrieving the hat. Sycamore and Diantha sought out a sales clerk to pay for their small hoard.

As soon as they were gone, Lysandre felt all eyes on him. Not directly, of course, but all the sidelong glances and quick looks were knives to him. He fiddled with his collar, trying to better cover his face, wishing he'd thought to bring something to cover his head. It wouldn't have been easy though, Augustine kept hiding all the hats and scarves. Someone whispered something.

"Euch, did you see his skin?"

"Hey, I feel sorry for him."

That was it. Before they finished paying, he was out of there and in search of the nearest alley to inhabit and never leave. Diantha just saw him walk out.

"Augustine!" She dropped her bag and grabbed his shoulders, her face already wild with concern.

"He left." She didn't need to say anything else, Augustine was out the door before the clerk could remind him to grab what he had paid for. Diantha followed suit, abandoning her shopping as well.

The two of them began calling him frantically, but his holo was shut off. Desperate, Augustine began asking passerbys if they'd seen him.

"Please, he's about 7" tall and wearing a black coat. Did you see him?" He was pleading with a young man who insisted he hadn't seen him. Diantha's eye was drawn to an alleyway tucked behind a cafe.

"Augustine," she gently pulled him away, "I think he went that way." With no other leads or ideas, he followed her. As they turned more corners in the complex backway, the foot traffic faded and another, softer sound gained strength. Weeping. It had to be him.

When they found him he was curled up on the ground and using his coat as a blanket. He had apparently heard them, as his sobs were being stifled into simple whimpering. Diantha covered her mouth to avoid sobbing aloud along with him, Sycamore just stared.

"Leave me alone." He choked out. Sycamore sat down beside him.

"I won't leave you mon cher. Please tell me what happened." His hand hovered above Lysandre's hunched form, never touching him, but ready to.

He didn't respond for a while, the only sound was his stifled cries. He didn't want them to see him cry.

"Just let it happen." Augustine whispered. Lysandre erupted into more sobs, tears pricked at Augustine's eyes. Feeling both helpless and useless, tears silently worked their way down Diantha's cheeks as well.

For a time, the three just sat together, each crying their own way. Lysandre finally spoke.

"Why did you propose to me?" He whispered hoarsely.

"Because I love you."

**Author's Note:**

> I hope this strikes the feels. Next chapter soon.


End file.
